Hey, lighten up, give Wal-Mart a break

I was up bright and early on Thanksgiving morning, heading out for a 9 a.m. tee time at Wildwood Green in Raleigh. On the way, I noticed cars tooling through the drive-thru at a McDonald’s (NYSE: WMT). Police were roaming the streets. The staff was on duty at the golf club.

After the round, I dropped by a Rite Aid (NYSE: RAD) store to check a few things off my to-get list.

Is it because Wal-Mart is the world’s biggest retailer and, therefore, an easy target?

I suspect that has something to do with the outrage. The bigger you are, the better a target you make.

Now, look, don’t get me wrong. I’d complain too if I had to work on a holiday, but I didn’t choose retailing – or restaurants – as a profession. The managers at Wal-Mart, Target (NYSE: TGT), et. al. did, so they get no wiggle room to complain.

The floor workers, well, that is a different matter. These are good, hard-working people who take these jobs because it’s the best they’re prepared to do, in most cases. Working at nights, on weekends and on holidays is part of the bargain with these jobs.

Of course, it became an issue this year because it was the first that Wal-Mart opened on Thanksgiving Day rather than wait until Black Friday. Other retailers did the same, but the venom is directed at Wal-Mart.

I’m no apologist for Wal-Mart, but it’s a business and its executives make business decisions. People who work there know what to expect going in: They know what their wage is going to be, what benefits they have and the nature of the schedules they face.

As for shopping on Thanksgiving Day, I think people are nuts to go out in wild crowds of frenzied bargain hunters on a day when they could be calm, cool and snug with friends and family at home.